a week without tv experiment, day 2
I’ve almost completed day 2 of my 7 day experiment. Though I haven’t noticed much of an increase in productivity, I have noticed a few changes. Right now the big winners from the experiment are my pets - they got considerably more attention than usual yesterday, and somewhat more today too.
The tv has only been on 30 minutes since I officially began the experiment yesterday, watching the end of Iron Chef America from Sunday night, which I am allowed to do under the rules I adopted. The specific rule is that I’m allowed to watch a recorded program, but not while it’s being broadcast. Even then I’m trying to avoid watching tv as much as possible.
The experiment is definitely subjective rather than objective. I didn’t think to write down how much time I spent on various activities before I started the experiment so I’d have a control for comparison, but this was really more geared towards seeing if I could become more productive and to see how I felt about it. Although I’m only two days into the experiment, I do have some observations to make.
The first thing I’ve noticed is how much quieter the house is. Before, I used to have the tv running in the background, even when I was checking my email or surfing the net or working in the kitchen or reading. With the tv off, there’s no background distraction, and no white noise of a sort that needs to be tuned out. I’ve always favored writing when it’s silent anyway, this seems to help. The background noise almost seemed like a pressure in my head, one that I didn’t realize was there until it wasn’t.
The next thing that I really noticed from last night is that I don’t feel rushed, or as rushed any more. I’m not running around the house, trying to get things done during commercial breaks, or having to pause the playback so I can get up and do something. I didn’t have to stop playing with the cats because the show was back on, or an interesting part of the movie was coming up, and I wasn’t suddenly distracted. I was able to concentrate more, and keep doing my task until it was finished.
The whole reason behind this experiment was to see if going without tv can make me more productive, at least when it comes to writing. It’s only been two days, and while I don’t have a complete answer, the initial feeling is positive. I admit I haven’t done any extra writing since the tv went dark, but I have found time to do some things that I might not have otherwise, or at least they would have been delayed further. So the answer at the moment is no, not towards the writing, but overall yes, it appears to be helping out. I expect the most benefit will be realized this weekend, since that is when I watch tv the most.
Ideally, I’ll set some time aside each day, preferably at the same time, to write. I’m having difficulty with that, honestly, but I think this is a definite step in the right direction. Regardless of the productivity outcome, I feel more relaxed and centered, and that may be the best outcome possible. We’ll see.